Aiden English
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois | death_date = | death_place = | resides = Winter Park, Florida | billed = | trainer = Florida Championship Wrestling | debut = September 17, 2011 | retired = }} Matthew "Matt" Rehwoldt (October 7, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Aiden English. He was formerly on WWE NXT as a former NXT Tag Team Champion along with Simon Gotch, who were collectively known as The Vaudevillains. Early life Rehwoldt was born in Chicago, where he developed an interest in acting at an early age. By the age of 20, he had appeared in over 20 stage productions. After graduating from Lyons Township High School, Rehwoldt studied acting (with a focus on stage combat) at Columbia College Chicago, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts. Professional wrestling career Early career (2011–2012) After graduating from college, Rehwoldt trained as a professional wrestler. He debuted on the Illinoisan independent circuit in late 2011 under the ring name "Matt Marquee". Rehwoldt wrestled for promotions such as Chicago Style Wrestling, where he formed a tag team named "The Ryte Stuff" with Barry Ryte. WWE Developmental territories (2012–2016) In early 2012, Rehwoldt signed a contract with WWE. He was assigned to its developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling and given the ring name "Aiden English". English made his televised debut on the April 8, 2012 episode of FCW TV, teaming with Audrey Marie in an inter-gender tag team match against Rick Victor and Paige. In mid-2012, WWE rebranded FCW as WWE NXT. English's television debut took place on the second episode of the rebooted NXT Wrestling taped at Full Sail University, where he was defeated by Leo Kruger. Throughout the year, English was used as a jobber, losing to the likes of Bray Wyatt, Ryback and Big E Langston. In his first match in 2013, on the [[May 29, 2013 NXT results|May 29 episode of NXT Wrestling]], English competed in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship but was eliminated by Mason Ryan. English scored his first win on the [[September 18, 2013 NXT results|September 18 episode of NXT Wrestling]], defeating Michael Q. Laurie. A week later, on the [[September 25, 2013 NXT results|September 25 episode of NXT Wrestling]], English sang a parody version of the Major-General's Song from the musical The Pirates of Penzance while approaching the ring. English subsequently began singing before, during and after his matches. Throughout the year, English scored a couple of wins over the likes of Jason Jordan and Camacho. In the beginning of 2014, English began a feud with Colin Cassady, losing to him on the [[January 1, 2014 NXT results|January 1 episode of NXT Wrestling]] in a sing off but later defeating him in several matches. In June 2014, English formed a tag team with Simon Gotch, known as The Vaudevillains. The Vaudevillains made their in-ring debut as a team on the June 19 episode, defeating Angelo Dawkins and Travis Tyler. In August, The Vaudevillains participated in a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship, before losing to The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto) in the final. On the [[October 30, 2014 NXT results|October 30 episode of NXT]], The Vaudevillains won a tag team battle royal to become the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship. They received their title match at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution against The Lucha Dragons, but were unsuccessful. After some hiatus, The Vaudevillians returned on the [[June 3, 2015 NXT results|June 3, 2015 episode of NXT]], defeating Jason Jordan and Marcus Louis. On the [[July 8, 2015 NXT results|July 8 episode of NXT]], The Vaudevillians defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to become the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship. The Vaudevillians received their title match on the [[July 29, 2015 NXT results|July 29 episode of NXT]], in which they were unsuccessful. The Vaudevillians would go on to defeat Blake and Murphy in a rematch at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. Main roster (2016–2017) On the April 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillains made their main roster debut as heels, defeating The Lucha Dragons. On the April 11 episode of Raw, the Vaudevillains were announced as one of the teams to participate in the #1 contenders tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship, where they defeated Goldust and Fandango in the first round later that week on SmackDown and The Usos on the April 18 episode of Raw in the semi-finals. At Payback, the Vaudevillains faced Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in the finals of the tournament. The match resulted in a no-contest due to a legit concussion by Amore, and the Vaudevillains were declared number one contenders. At Extreme Rules, the Vaudevillains received their shot at the titles against The New Day in a losing effort. At Money in the Bank, The Vaudevillians competed in a Fatal 4-way tag team match also involving Enzo Amore and Big Cass and Gallows and Anderson for the titles in a losing effort. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, the Vaudevillians were drafted to SmackDown in the tenth round of picks. In August, a tag team tournament for the newly created WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship was set up by SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon, where the winners of the tournament would be crowned the inaugural champions. On the August 30 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillians would compete in the first round match of the tournament, where they were defeated by The Hype Bros. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillians were defeated by Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) in a qualifying match for a spot in Team SmackDown at Survivor Series. On the January 31, 2017 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillains, along with five other teams, answered an open challenge set by American Alpha, where a brawl between all six teams ensued before being broken up by referees and officials. At Elimination Chamber, the Vaudevillains competed in a tag team turmoil match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, where they were eliminated by Heath Slater and Rhyno. At WrestleMania 33, the Vaudevillains competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Mojo Rawley. Singles Competition (2017) On April 5, Simon Gotch was released by WWE, thus disbanding The Vaudevillains. On the April 11 edition of SmackDown Live, while returning to his singing gimmick, English was quickly interrupted and defeated by Tye Dillinger. On the May 2 edition of Smackdown he would be defeated again by Dillinger. The two then traded wins at the next 2 Smackdown exclusive Pay-per views ending their feud. In the following months English defeated Sami Zayn twice with help from interference by Kevin Owens. Rusev Day (2017-2018) English then aligned himelf with fellow superstar Rusev. English allied with Rusev during a rivalry Rusev had been having with Randy Orton. After losing to Orton at SummerSlam, Rusev issued a rematch to Orton following a match with English, which Orton had won. English distracted Orton and allowed Rusev to pick up the victory in nine seconds. The next week, the mayor of Rusev's Bulgarian hometown appeared to declare September 26 Rusev Day, holding a ceremony to present Rusev with the keys to the city, where English sung a special song for Rusev commemorating the occasion before taking an RKO from Orton. English began managing Rusev in his matches, and later began teaming with him in tag team matches. English and Rusev started to work efficiently as a team and were always seen with each other, as seen in the December 5 episode of SmackDown Live ''where the two picked up a win against The New Day and were later inserted into a fatal four-way tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Clash of Champions. The next week, they defeated the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match, but failed to capture the titles at the event. The duo continued to gain popularity and momentum, as the crowd continued to rally behind them, allowing them another opportunity at number one contendership to the tag titles in a triple threat tag team match on the December 26th edition of SmackDown Live against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin and The New Day in a losing effort. English then entered the 2018 Royal Rumble match at number 22 but failed to win after being eliminated by Finn Bálor. 205 Live (2019-Present) On the [[205 Live (January 22, 2019)|January 22, 2019 episode of ''205 Live]], English began serving as a color commentator along with Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness as a heel. At the time, English would be a replacement for Percy Watson. Personal life In December 2014, Rehwoldt became engaged to former professional wrestler Shaul Guerrero, the daughter of Vickie Guerrero and the late Eddie Guerrero. They were married on January 3, 2016 in Florida, making Rehwoldt Eddie Guerrero's son-in-law and part of the Guerrero family. In wrestling * Finishing moves ** Director's Cut (Cobra clutch lifted and dropped into a sitout side slam - 2014–2017 or a full nelson lifted and dropped into a reverse STO – 2017–present) ** Single underhook facelock drop ** That's a Wrap (Senton bomb) * Signature moves ** Fireman Carry Spinebuster ** Leaping leg drop ** Swinging neckbreaker ** Back Kick ** Tope Con Hilo * Double team finishing moves ** With Simon Gotch *** Rolling fireman's carry slam (Gotch) followed by ''That's a Wrap'' (English) *** Whirling Dervish (Uppercut to the back of the opponent's head) (Gotch) followed by a swinging neckbreaker (English) * Tag Teams and Stables ** The Vaudevillains (w/ Simon Gotch) ** Rusev & English (With Rusev) * Nicknames ** "The Artiste" ** "The Drama King" ** "The Man of Sophistication" ** "The Shakespeare of Song" * Entrance themes **"Toreador" by Georges Bizet (Independent circuit) ** "Blast Out" by Quantum Tracks (NXT; June 20, 2013 – August 1, 2013) ** "A Quicker Accomplishment" by Art Test Music (NXT; May 30, 2014 – September 25, 2014; used while teaming with Simon Gotch) ** "Voix de Ville" by CFO$ (NXT; October 2, 2014 – June 24, 2015; April 14, 2016 – August 22, 2017; used while teaming with Simon Gotch and in singles competition) ** "Vau de Vire" by CFO$ (NXT; July 1, 2015 – April 7, 2016; used while teaming with Simon Gotch) ** "Bel Canto" by CFO$ (WWE; August 29, 2017 – present) Championships and accomplishments * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** PWI ranked him #'207' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014 * WWE ** NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Simon Gotch External links * WWE.com Profile * Profile * Profile * Facebook Fan Page * Official Facebook * Twitter Category:1987 births Category:2011 debuts Category:American wrestlers Category:Illinois wrestlers Category:Chicago Style Wrestling alumni Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment current roster Category:WWE NXT alumni Category:Living people Category:Male wrestlers Category:Guerrero family Category:Commentators